Photo by Porfirio Barron Jr./RBRBoxing
On April 18, 2015, former Lightweight champion Terence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) will take on tough Puerto Rican contender, Thomas Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs) live from the College Park Center at the University of Texas in Arlington, Texas.
Crawford will be moving up in weight to challenge the naturally bigger Dulorme for the vacant WBO Light Welterweight title. Crawford is coming off a fantastic 2014, having been named BWAA’s Fighter of the Year after scoring wins over Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Raymundo Beltran–the second two which were title defenses.
Dulorme is also coming off a good year, going 6-0 since taking his first and only professional loss of his career back in October of 2012 at the hands of Luis Carlos Abregu.
During the press conference for the fight, both men were excited about the opportunity given to them. Crawford has his eyes set on claiming another title, this time in the Welterweight division. Dulorme is also aiming high, fighting for the chance to win his first world title.
Crawford and Dulorme bring different styles to the table in this bout. Dulorme, who as mentioned before, is the naturally bigger guy but will most likely be the underdog in this matchup. He brings two things that should be a big advantage for him–size and power.
What Dulorme will need to look out for is Crawford’s frequent tendency to switch from orthodox to southpaw. Dulorme, whose task will already be difficult enough, will be fighting without one of the top trainers in the sport today, Robert Garcia.
He has chosen to go with another coach for this fight, though he claims he is still on friendly terms with Garcia. Dulorme has shown plenty of strong qualities that can prove dangerous for Crawford. He’s got a stiff jab, a powerful left hook and he digs to the body very effectively. All of these tools will be essential for Dulorme to pull off the upset victory. If he wants a shot at all in this fight, he must stay active by using his jab and moving around Crawford, not staying stationary where Crawford can really inflict damage.
Crawford has a unique style that he brings into the ring. Just when you think you have him figured out, he will effortlessly switch stances and throw his opponent’s whole game off. Crawford, the consummate boxer/puncher, tends to be at his most dangerous when he stalks his opponent.
According to ESPN‘s Dan Rafael, Crawford is not worried about the size difference at all in this fight.
“This fight is going to be fun. I can already tell. For one, he thinks he is going to be the bigger, stronger guy in the ring, which I don’t believe. He’s not. Come fight time I will show everybody. I will be in control. It’s going to be a great fight, and I look forward to getting my hand raised at the end,” said a confident Crawford.
At the end of the day it’s difficult not to go with Crawford due to the arsenal of skills he possesses. Dulorme will not be a pushover by any means and should put up a good fight. He’ll be able to test Crawford’s chin, something Gamboa did a couple of fights ago.
If Gamboa was able to hurt Crawford, there’s no reason to believe Dulorme can’t inflict some damage. There is a good chance there will be some knockdowns in this fight, but both men have shown the ability to take a punch and keep going.
Final prediction: Crawford uses his boxing abilities to break down Dulorme and land the cleaner punches throughout the exchanges and win a clear, but close decision eight rounds to four.
